Of Parroting

Emmett adores his big sister.  This adoration is reflected in his constant emulation of her.

Last night at dinner, when the adults were brought sopapillas and she was very indignant with her lack of dessert, Micaiah demanded of our waitress, "Hey!  Where are our plates?!"  As we scolded our daughter for her rude attitude, we heard a little echo, complete with hands in a questioning gesture, "Where our play?"  The fact that he had no idea what he was asking was irrelevant to this little man.

Again, this morning, as Grandy swung the kids in the air, Micaiah demanded he swing her "higher than the sky" - which is a common request from our little dreamer.  Immediately following, Emmett ran to Grandy, hands in the air, crying, "I-er da ky!"

Someday he'll have a mind of his own, but for now his parroting is awfully cute.

Another aspect in which he has begun to take after his sister is in earning time-out through being a little too fussy for our tastes.

This evening, when he broke down while Daddy was working on dinner, Philip gave him the choice: stop crying or go to time-out (for the first time ever).  The little man toddled, as he always does when he has a destination, quickly to the front door, sitting carefully on the doormat (time-out is actually in the nearby corner, but I'm guessing he went to his default spot to which he is relegated when his sister is occupying the corner and he is keeping her company).  Philip informed him, "You can come out when you're done being sad."  Immediately, he turned off the water works, stood, and chased after Daddy.

However, he was soon crying once more, and was given the option once more.  And once more he toddled to the doormat without an argument.  This process repeated a couple of times before he began sending himself to time-out.  He would begin crying, realize what he was doing and run to the front door to sit it out, without even waiting for the option.  It was one of those moments where Mommy could not conceal the giggles.  A self-disciplining little man who isn't afraid to let his emotion flow - how adorable.

During one of his Time-Out visits: So sad, but so cute.

A couple more photos, just because I can:

I was trying to keep Joey awake after his feeding and, as usual, he wasn't having it.  Instead, he simply flopped back, content to sleep in any position he could get.

Our little guy has incredible neck muscles.

Of Finger Wagging

We have known for quite some time that our daughter has an inordinate amount of sass.  I mean, just look at this picture:

If that's not sass, I don't know what is.

And now she has decided to employ her sassy nature at times of discipline.  A move that, maybe, isn't so wise for her and leaves me asking, "Where does this come from?!"

Yesterday, as we had guests and Little Miss was not so eager for napping (not that she ever is, but particularly not when she has others to entertain), I instructed Micaiah to put away the train she had just pulled out and head to the potty.  Rather than listen to me, she (as she frequently does), yelled, "No!" and dropped the train on the floor.  I gave her the look that says, "You're going to get a spanking when we're alone and unless you want to make it worse, I highly suggest you pick up that train right now" (parents sure can pack a lot of message into one look).

Her response was to put one hand on her hip and wag her finger at me, with a very smug smile on her face, as if to ask, "And what are you going to do about this?"

And then she saw what I was going to do about that.  And it wasn't good.

It wasn't until I wagged my own pointer while scolding her about her inappropriate behavior that I even realized where she learned it - this is when I had to explain, "This finger is only for Momma - you do NOT wave your finger at Momma!"  Since then, she has tried to sneak it out once or twice and the phrase, "Don't you point that finger at me" has been said (by me) more than I would like in this house.

That girl.

She's lucky we love her.

Of Passing It On

It would appear I am not the only one in this house with a renewed sense of gratitude. 

Micaiah's newest thing is graciousness.  It feels as though every time I am turning around I'm hearing the words, "Thank you, Mommy" coming out of her mouth.

And it's kind of a nice change.


"Thank you, Mommy, my animal crackers."


"Thank you, Mommy, say my chicken."  (This was after I was corrected because I said she liked her green beans and her mashed potatoes, when really it was the chicken and potatoes she loved.  But she, clearly, appreciated my retraction.)


"Thank you, Mommy, my blanket."


And the other day, I heard both of the following, "Thank you, Mommy, yelling me." and "Thank you, Mommy, my time-out."  Now, I'm really not sure how to take those, so I'll pretend that she understands the greater good of the discipline which is bestowed upon her and the great difficulty I bear in doling it out.  And she clearly appreciates the pain I endure to raise her up in the way she should go.

Let me just have my moment, won't you?